1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to insulation for pipes, more particularly, to removable and reusable insulation units.
2. Prior Art
Piping systems are designed to carry a variety of fluids, some of which may be chilled, such as a cold water piping system, and some of which may be heated, such as a hot water system or a steam piping system. When the fluid transported is at a different temperature that the ambient environment, it is desirable to insulate the piping system to maintain the temperature of the fluid being piped, and to reduce the overall energy losses. Insulation of such piping systems have included wrapping the systems in insulation, or encasing the system in a sheet metal or plastic housing with insulating material disposed therein. However, if the piping system needs maintenance, such as on a valve, connector or such, the insulating material must be removed from the section requiring maintenance. In conventional pipe insulation systems, removal of the insulating material destroys the useability of the removed material, requiring installation of new materials, a costly and time consuming process. Thus it is desirable to have a reusable removable insulating unit which can be used in new piping system installations or to retrofit sections of existing piping systems requiring maintenance.
Attempts to overcome the necessity of destroying the insulation over the section requiring repair have included removable insulation units having release fasteners, are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,159 for insulating straight pipe sections, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,207,918 and 4,807,669 for insulating complex shapes, such as for valve fittings, couplings, elbow, T or Y joints, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,159 discloses wrapping a pipe section in an insulating material, and using "Velcro" type fasteners. The patent also discloses using a vapor barrier liner attached to the insulating material to prevent condensation on the units. However, the insulating units described in this patent effectively insulate only a single diameter pipe, or pipe with associated insulation. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,159 discloses a tubular insulating member having openings at the ends of the tube for allowing the pipe to exit. The opening in the insulating unit, as a prefabricated unit, will accommodate a particular sized pipe. A given unit is thus only useful on a given pipe, resulting in the need to stockpile a large quantity of varying sized insulating units. Additionally, replacement insulating units for exposed sections of pipe are designed to be installed so that the insulating unit overlaps non-exposed sections of pipe. In this instance, the pre-fabricated opening in the insulating unit must account for the expected thickness of existing pipe insulation (sometimes called insulating wrap or pipe collar). Because the thickness of insulation applied to a piping system can vary from system to system, indeed within the same piping system, a tube opening of fixed diameter might not accommodate the area to be joined.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,207,918 and 4,807,669 disclose insulating units for complex devices. The device shown in 4,207,918 requires the use of several blanket layers of insulation which are then strapped around the complex pipe fitting requiring insulation. This system requires complex belting to hold the unit in place, as well as being difficult to install. U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,669 attempts to overcome these limitations by using a single body member held together with "Velcro" type fasteners, with apertures in the body for the pipes to pass therethrough. However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,669 has the same limitations as U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,159; that is, the device has pre-fabricated openings, which are effective only for one particular diameter pipe, or a particular diameter pipe with associated insulation wrap or pipe collar.
Additionally, some piping systems have components installed in the system which are normally encased in insulation but which components require frequent maintenance, such as a basket strainer or "Y" type strainer. Even if these type of components are insulated by the inventions described in the above patents, in order to perform maintenance on the component, the entire insulating unit must be removed.